As explained in the parent application, it is common to designate certain particularly convenient parking locations or stalls for a designated individual, i.e., a president of a company, or a select group of individuals, i.e., handicapped individuals. Such designation can be accomplished by a written notice, constituting either an upright sign or indicia printed in or adjacent the parking stall. However, absent costly around-the-clock human surveillance, a printed notice of restricted use seldom sufficiently deters all unrestricted uses of a parking stall.
Prior attempts to control access to a restricted use parking stall have included the use of a retractable barrier which is remotely controlled by either a radio or a coin operated device accessible to the driver of the vehicle to retract the barrier upon contact of the barrier by a wheel of the vehicle. Absent the proper signal, the barrier will block entry of a vehicle into the stall.
Such devices are bulky and cumbersome, requiring the erecting and maintaining of a retractable physical structure within the parking stall. In addition to the cost of installation, barrier monitors introduce an inconvenience with respect to maintaining an entire parking lot. For example, during a snow emergency, a plow is physically restricted from laterally traversing and clearing a large number of stalls in a short period of time.
It is therefore desirable to provide a cost-effective parking stall monitor which effectively prevents unauthorized use of a parking stall, yet does not require the erection and maintenance of a barrier within the stall.